Pressure filler control



Dec. 8,1959 H. s. HANSON ET AL 2,916,060

PRESSURE FILLER CONTROL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 7, 1957 INVENTORS.Herbert G- Hanson BY Robert E. Poethi Dec. 8, 1959 H. s. HANSON ETAL2,916,060

PRESSURE FILLER CONTROL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. '7, 1957 mw 9 2 uWM: MM. .v mm; wm. as. um m: aw 0: O NR. v: 0: CU mm O. flv 0Q Mm I *2Q? QM my P um um vm we uw l 11 Mb mm I I I l w on. wm 111||||-\ W w@ v.m. wn O M0 W mw a s m n V a m m G L?! P h e e w R mm H w om MM ww NM WmM o wM PRESSURE FILLER CONTROL Herbert G. Hanson, Chicago, and Robert E.Poethig,

Glenview, IlL, assignors to The Bastian-Blessing Com- .pany, Chicago,111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 7, 1957, Serial No.632,824

Claims. (Cl. 141225) This invention relates to automatic shut-off valvesand more particularly to means for terminating the flow of liquid gas toa container upon attainment of a predetermined level in the container.

The invention is an improvement on the automatic shut-oft devicedisclosed in the copending application, Serial No. 539,721, filed byHarry J. Williams, October 1-1, 1955. In that device, expansion meanswere disclosed for actuating a latch-release means adapted selectivelyto dispose a valve opening means in position to open the be producedimmediately.

- lt'is accordingly, an-object of the present'invention toprovideanautomatic shut-off valve having means adapted to vent vaporintroduced into association therewith during-lilling-of a containerandprior to attainmentof a predetermined level therein, and tocreate apressure condi- :;tion when thesaid level has been attained andin-response to vaporization of liquid .introduced thereagainst wherebyto release the shut-off valve into closing position by simple mechanicalactuation of a latch-release means.

Another object of the invention is to provide ashut- .off .valve .asdescribed, whereinthe said mechanical means :comprise .a piston slidablymounted in the valve and means in position to open the valve duringfilling of the container to the desired level, and adapted to retractwith the piston in response .to the creation of the aforementionedpressure condition.

Another object of the invention is .to provide a shutoff valve asdescribed whereinthemeans for creating the pressure condition comprise avalve adapted to vent vapor during the filling of the containerpreferably under venturi conditions which minimizes possibilities offalse closings, and to close when vapor pressure is :increased inresponse to vaporization of the liquid introduced thereagainst at thetime the said predetermined level is at- :tained preferably underjetting conditions which automatically eliminate venturi conditions andassures closing of the valve.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve for creating apressure condition as described, having a resilient annular supportelement which is responsive to vapor pressure during the filling processto vent the vapor while at the same time keeping the valve open as longas vapor conditions persist, the valve being adapted to ride downwardlywith a snap action into sealing position upon saidpredeterminedypressure being exceeded.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will beice come apparentas the description proceeds in accordance with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the shutoff valve in accordance with thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the lines 22 of Fig.1; and

Fig. 3 is an end view of the valve shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the sectional view shown inFig. 2.

Referring now to Figs. 1 through 3, the tank-filling apparatus includesa valve body 10 adapted for use with a tank-filling apparatus and tanksuch as is shown in the aforementioned copending application, Serial No.539,721, and includes a longitudinally extending bore 12 threaded toreceive a pipe line and a valve 14 biased by a helical spring 16 intosealing relationship with a valve seat 18 so as to be in the path offlow of liquid introduced by the aforementioned pipe line as it passesthrough the passage 12 and into a chamber 20, thence to be in .troducedinto a tank through a tail-piece 22.

The valve 14 is guided vertically by means of a valve stem 24 having itslower end received in a bore 26 and its other end in a bore 28 definedin a cap 30 threadedly received in the valve body it) and defining alsoan annular recess 32 for receiving the upper end of the helical spring16, the lower end of the spring being adapted to seat upon a metallicdisc 34 having a depending annular flange 36 in which is received aresilient sealing disc 38. In order to insure efiective sealingrelationship between the cap 31% and the valve body it a gasket orO-ring 40 is provided between the head portion 42of the cap and anannular recess 44 in the valve body which may be compressed slightly bythe engagement of the cap in the valve body for more effective sealing.The lower portion of the valve body it defines a relatively largecompartment 46 into which the lower portion of the valve stem 24extends; and in order to permit selective seating and unseating of thevalve 14, a lever 48 is pivotally secured by means of a roll pin 5%within the compartment and upon the body iii, adiacent the said lowerextremity of the valve stem. Suitable bleed valve means 52 are alsoprovided within the valve stem 24 as set forth in the (Larkin et al.)copending application filed concurrently herewith. The lever 4-8includes a straight portion 54 which extends into the compartment for ashort distance and carries a rivet 56 adapted to engage the lower end ofthe valve stem 24 as hereinafter further described. The lever thenextends upwardly at 58 and is provided with an elongate arcuate handleportion 69 carrying a pin or grip portion 62 at its outer extremity.

I11 order to selectively position the lever 48 in valve- .openingposition as shown in broken lines, an automatic check unit assembly 64is provided which is secured to the valve body 10 by means of bolts suchas the bolts 66 and 68. The automatic check unit assembly 64 defines abore 70 which receives slidably therein a piston means 72 carrying alatch 74, which in its normal position, as hereinafter set forth, isadapted to engage the handle 4-8 by means of its pin or complementarylatch 62. The latch or thrust element 7d extends through the housing 1%:as preferably supported by means of a sleeve-like boss portion 76secured in place on the valve body 10. in

order to preserve the effective seal betwee the compartment 46 and thebore 7% an O-ring St? may be secured on the latch member 74 by means ofan annular groove 82 therein.

The latch '74 extends to an inner end of the bore 70 in a relativelyenlarged portion thereof designated by ,numeral 84, and is secured to adrum or piston element 86 secured on the shank of the piston 9t! whoseouter end 3 92 is knurled for manual manipulation and whose shank 94 isof relatively reduced diameter and slidably received in a cap 96threadedly received in the enlarged portion 84. The head 88 iscircumferentially grooved to receive an O-ring or other suitable sealingelement 99 to seal the piston head with the cylinder wall with aninitially rolling contact inherent in the O-ring for easy initialmovement.

In order to bias the piston head and hence latch 74 into the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 2 whereby to abuttingly engage the pin 62, ahelical spring 102 is axially aligned on the shank portion 9 of the pin91 with its inner end abutting the disc 86 and its outer end received inan annular recess 1&4 defined in the cap 96. It will be noticed that thepiston head 86 is, as stated, relatively enlarged as compared with thebore 70, and an annular shoulder 106 is defined in the enlarged portion84 to abuttingly engage the head 83 in its normal position as shown. Thebore 71) gradually tapers outwardly to approximate the dimensions of thebore, as shown at 108 to provide a chamber therearound.

In order to provide for selective retraction of the piston 72, apassageway 110 is cross-drilled in the assembly body 112, which leadsinto and through a longitudinal passageway 114 connected to an outagehose 116 for successively receiving vapor and liquid from the storagetank being filled in tne manner set forth in the aforementionedcopending Williams application. The hose 116 is secured within athreaded recess 118 in the body 112 by means of a nozzle 1213 having ajet opening 121 and it will be noted that the passageway 110 includes adownward extension at 122 which opens into a peripheral space or chamber124 surrounding a resilient valve element 126 hereinafter further to bedescribed. The element 126 is held in place by a sleeve or valve nut 129having a tapering valve seat 13% therein facing the resilient valve 126and an outlet 132 therefrom opening to atmosphere.

The valve seat 126 defines an annular rim 143 having depending legs 136integral therewith which support the valve seat 126 in place while stillproviding passages through the rim between the legs.

The valve seat portion 126 is in turn supported on the rim 143 forcooperation with the conical surface 130 by means of a flexible annularinterstitial support web 140, which urges the valve 126 away from theconical surface 130, with the upper end of the rim 136 held in centered"relationship within an annular recess 142. A passage 128 outside the rimis drilled to meet the passage 114 to place it in communication with theatmosphere through the openings between the legs 136 and through thenormally open valve 126.

In this connection it should be observed that preferably, the jetopening is in close proximity to both portions of the passageway 11d anddischarges at right angles thereto across their openings to provide aventuri effect while vapor is passing through the nozzle. This tends tokeep the piston 86 in latching position and the valve 126 open. However,when liquid is discharged through the jet opening, the venturi actionceases, the liquid hits the end of the passage 114, absorbs latent heatand vaporizes to provide a high back pressure in all passagescommunicating with passage 114 with not enough flow area between legs136 to relieve it to atmosphere, thereupon the valve 126 is snapped shutand the full vapor pressure of the liquefied gas is applied to the innerface of the latch piston 86 to overcome the spring MP2 and release thelatch.

The operation of the device is as follows: When a container to be usedwith the valve is being filled with a liquefied gas, vapor producedthereby is introduced through the conduit 116 and the passageway 114 at122, into the passage 123, where the vapor flows around the resilientvalve element 126, radially enters into chamber 124 and is permitted toescape into the outlet 132. When the container is filled to apredetermined limit, however, such as a 10% outage level, liquid gaswill be drawn upwardly into the hose 116 through a suitable clip pipe in4 accordance with the method described in the aforemen' tioned copendingWilliams application, and will enter the enclosure 114 defined by thebody portion 112, where it will vaporize as a result of the low pressureconditions encountered there. This vaporization as already describedwill produce a pressure sufficient to act through the passage 122 todepress the valve 126 so that it will seat on the valve seat and closeoff the outlet 132. Since no further escape means is provided for thepressure of vaporization, the plunger or piston 72 will be pushedoutwardly of the enclosure 112 and of the valve body 10, pulling with itthe latch member 74 so as to release the pin 62 and the handle 48carrying the pin for downward pivotal movement to the position shown insolid lines. As stated, when the latch or handle 48 is in the positionshown in broken lines, the valve 14 will be open so as to admit fluidinto the container being filled. Upon the aforementioned downwardmovement of the handle 4-8, the valve will close immediately without theneed for intervening expansion of a pressure responsive element or anyother action except the described retraction of the piston 72. Thehandle may be reset manually as by the pin 62, which may be received ina suitable slot in the body portion 10, or by moving the handle directlywithin the chamber 46. Thereupon the process may be repeated withoutdanger of break-down and positive valve closing action such as tomaintain the desired level within desirably close tolerances isprovided. Moreover, if at any time it is desired to stop fillinginstantly, the knurled end 92 need only be pulled to effect the sameclosure of the valve 38 already described.

Although we have herein set forth and described the invention withrespect to certain specific principles and details thereof, it will beobvious to those skilled in the art that these may be varied withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in thehereunto appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for terminating the flow of liquefied gas into a closedcontainer upon reaching a predetermined level comprising a body having afill passageway therethrough, a normally closed inflow check valve insaid fill passageway in the path of the replenishing liquid, manualmeans carried by the body for moving said valve into open position,latch means for latching said manual means to hold said check valve inopen position including a piston, a housing carried by said body havinga cylinder for said piston and a conduit venting said cylinder toatmosphere, a normally open valve mounted in said conduit, means forconducting liquefied gas to said conduit in its liquid phase including aflow restricting orifice at the inlet of said conduit to vaporize saidliquid in said conduit and develop a pressure effective on said normallyopen valve to close it and trap said pressure in said cylinder behindsaid piston means, said piston means being moved to unlatching positionunder said trapped pressure to release said manual means and close thevalve controlled thereby.

2. In a device of the class described for filling a closed containerwith liquefied gas under pressure to a predetermined level having a bodywith a fill passageway therethrough, a check valve in said passagewayclosing in the direction of flow of replenishing liquid in saidpassageway and manual means for moving said check valve to its openposition, the combination of a housing on said body, a latch in saidhousing for releasably engaging said manual means for holding said checkvalve in open position, said housing having a conduit therethrough, aflow restricting orifice at the inlet of said conduit, a valve in saidconduit for venting vapor from the conduit beyond said orifice at apredetermined rate and adapted to close in response to a predeterminedpressure being attained in said conduit induced by vaporization ofliquid inducted into said conduit through said orifice, and pressureresponsive means connected to said conduit between said orifice andventing valve to actuate said latch for releasing said manual means toclose the check valve.

3. In a device of the class described for filling a closed containerwith liquefied gas under pressure to a predetermined level having a bodywith a fill passageway therethrough, a check valve in said passagewayclosing in the direction of flow of replenishing liquid in saidpassageway and manual means for moving said check valve to its openposition, the combination of a housing on said body having a conduittherethrough, piston means connected to said conduit and responsive topressure therein for releasably engaging said manual means to hold saidcheck valve in open position, a flow restricting orifice at the inlet ofsaid conduit, a normally open excess pressure check valve in saidconduit responsive to the pressure therein for venting vapor toatmosphere from the conduit beyond said orifice at a predetermined rate,said excess pressure check valve closing in response to a predeterminedpressure being attained in said conduit as induced by vaporization ofgas inducted into said conduit in its liquid phase through said orifice.

4. Apparatus for terminating the flow of liquefied gas into a closedcontainer upon reaching a predetermined level comprising a body having afill passageway therethrough, a normally closed inflow check valve insaid fill passageway in the path of the replenishing liquid, manualmeans carried by the body for moving said valve into open position,latch means for latching said manual means to hold said check valve inopen position including a piston, a housing on said body having crossedinterconnecting conduits therein, a latch in said housing for releasablyengaging said manual means for holding said check valve in openposition, a flow restricting orifice at the inlet of one of saidconduits, a normally open vent valve in said one of said conduits forventing vapor from the conduit beyond said orifice at a predeterminedrate, pressure responsive means in another one of said conduits forclosing said vent valve when a predetermined prwsure is reached in saidother conduit to trappressure in said conduits, means for conductingliquefied gas to said conduits in its liquid phase through said flowrestricting orifice to vaporize said liquid in said conduits and developa pressure effective on said pressure responsive means to close saidvent valve, and pressure responsive means connected to said other one ofthe conduits to actuate said latch for releasing said manual means toclose the check valve.

5. The combination called for in claim 4 in which liquefied gas in itsvapor phase entering said one conduit through said orifice is conductedat an angle to the other conduit having the first-mentioned pressureresponsive means therein to aspirate fluid therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,083,078 Mayo June 8, 1937

